


Paradigm Shift

by Macremae



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alisha is pretty darn smart, Carlos-centric, Gen, POV Carlos, anniversary fic, carlos relized he fucked up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:28:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4142964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macremae/pseuds/Macremae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Alisha comes back from a battle with a wounded hand to a ruined research lab, they give Carlos a little push. Takes place between Taking Off and Review.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paradigm Shift

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Anniversary! This is my first wtnv anniversary, and while its not my favorite, it was both satisfying and heart-wrenching. I just had to write a little epiphany for Carlos, the dork.

Carlos stood among the broken wreckage of his lab equipment, still blinking in shock, phone on the table behind him. Crushed glass carpeted the floor, large pieces of beakers and computer parts were strewn around like some careless child had been set loose. His notebooks were in tatters, soaked with blood and ripped far beyond repair. Mixed in with the debri were clumps of fluffy white dog hair and severed limbs. 

He let out a shaky sigh and knelt down next to the shattered remains of a bunsen burner. Careful not to cut himself, Carlos began to collect the pieces of the broken instrument and drop them into the tupperware container that had previously held his lunch.

“Tiny scientist?”

He turned his head to see Alisha standing in the doorway between his lab and the living room. 

“Oh, hi Alisha. Did you need something?” Carlos asked, pointedly not looking at the scraps of paper stuck to their knees. 

“My right hand has been wounded, and Doug is out collecting cactus juice. Would you please dress it?”

Carlos glanced back at the mess for a millisecond before sighing, getting to his feet, and grabbing the roll of bandages out on the table. He patted one of the larger stools for Alisha to sit on, and began rubbing the clotted gash with a wet cloth.

“I am sorry for the trouble that Thrackerzod caused today. He did not mean to harm your work.” they said softly.

Carlos sighed again. “No, its okay. It was an accident.”  
“What troubles you then?” Alisha asked as Carlos began to spread antiseptic onto their hand.

“Well it’s just...I spent a whole year, a whole year, on that work and now it’s all ruined! Just like that! Over 365 days of science and data gathering, and it’s all gone in a moment. All my hard work, for nothing. I spent so much time doing that. How could it just be taken away all of a sudden? I know it sounds childish, but it’s just not fair!”

Carlos twisted the cap back onto the tube of antiseptic with a vengeance, as if to punctuate his rant.

He sighed yet again, and placed the edge of the bandage roll on Alisha’s hand to begin binding.

Alisha sat in silence for a moment as Carlos wound the bandages around their hand. Finally, after a minute of silence, they spoke.

“When I was a youngling, I had a favorite rock that my sibling, Neiflock, and I would share. I loved that rock. It was smooth, always cool to the touch, and perfect for throwing. One day, it was their turn to dance with it, but Neiflock had gotten in trouble the day before, and was now not allowed to play with the rock. 

At first, I relished in the chance to toss it around without them nagging me for a turn. However, I threw it too far, and it became lost in the sand. I was very upset, until I saw Neiflock sitting by themself. I realized that I had been so caught up in having the rock to myself, I had forgotten my sibling. So I decided not to look for it, but to play with them instead.”

Alisha chuckled. “And I never did find that rock. My point is tiny scientist, that there are many material possessions in this world that we love. They can be clocks, cacti, computers, even rocks. But they are all breakable. They call all easily be lost. 

However, the things that truly matter: hope, family, love; cannot be so easily taken away. They are not tangible things, but feelings that we have; important feelings. An embrace from the person you love is worth a thousand rocks. The simple things were made to be so easily breakable, so that we can remember the feelings that aren’t. Do you understand, tiny scientist?” they asked as Carlos finished wrapping her hand.

He stared at the strips of cloth in a daze. Oh my God. Carlos thought, Cecil what have I done? I was so focused on my research here in the Desert Otherworld that I completely forgot about you.

Carlos looked up from Alisha’s hand, a plan forming in his mind. “Yes Alisha,” he said determinedly, “I do understand. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to write a letter.”

He tossed the roll of bandages onto the counter, and made his way around the wreckage of his now forgotten science.

Alisha smiled. “I shall procure a traveling sack for your possessions and inform the masked army of your departure.”

“Great.” said Carlos, carefully lifting his foot over a smoking Richter Scale. 

“Oh, and Alisha? Try not to jump to war so quickly. You might just find that not all interlopers are bad.”

0ooooooooooo0

It was pouring in Night Vale when Carlos stepped out of the Dog Park, a stark contrast to the bright and sunny climate of the Desert Otherworld. A few hooded figures inched toward him, but seemed to sense he was leaving, and paid him no mind. 

Carlos’s mind was still reeling from the nightmarish scene he had witnessed at Kevin’s radio station. All that red...and it sure wasn’t barbecue sauce. He hadn’t just fooled Cecil, but Carlos too. Kevin would certainly have to be dealt with, there was no way he wasn’t evil anymore now. However, today was not that day. 

As he hurried down the sidewalk in the direction of his old apartment with Cecil, a pair of bright lights swerved into his vision. On the road beside him, a black stretch limo pulled up, it’s tinted windows impossibly dark and foreboding. Carlos took a step back, wary that the Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency had sent someone to make sure he didn’t return. The long, slim door of the vehicle swung open, and a voice like drumskin, hot cocoa, and the fluttering of angel wings flew out from within.

“Get in loser, we’re going to fix that shitty-ass lovelife of yours.”

Carlos grinned, shook the rain out of his hair, and got in the limo. It was good to be home.


End file.
